Sports
Basketball

Opportunity for Korah hoopsters

Members of the Korah Colts senior boys basketball team had a rare opportunity early Wednesday morning.

They worked out in front of a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I head coach.

Matthew Driscoll is head coach of the men's team at the University of North Florida, located in Jacksonville, Fla.

An acquaintance of Colts head coach Jeff Giovanatti, Driscoll watched one of the Colts 10, out-of-season practise sessions.

While in Canada, Driscoll also spent time visiting high schools in Toronto and Hamilton.

Driscoll, who was flying home, was unavailable for comment later in the day.

However, even if he had been reached, NCAA rules preclude him from commenting on specific players he saw.

Later in the day, he told Giovanatti he “had a very productive trip.”

It's believed his interest locally revolves around a pair of 17-year-olds: Colts guard Anthony Iacoe, last season's MVP of the Senior Boys High School Basketball League, and Korah centre Jonah Fogg.

Iacoe is a six-foot-two, 180-pounder, while Fogg stands six-foot-10 and weighs in at 300 pounds.

Offering his analysis of how the Colts players performed, Giovanatti said Iacoe “looked really solid. He shot the ball well. I think there's going to be a noticeable improvement in his game this fall.”

The Korah coach spoke of how Iacoe has worked hard to increase both his physical strength and his skill set.

“Jonah looked really god,” Giovanatti added. “He showed good footwork, soft hands and a good touch. But he'll need to work on his conditioning.”

The Colts coach said Iacoe has gotten interest from Brown University, a Division I Ivy League school, along with a handful of schools at the Division II and III levels.

Fogg, he said, has received interest from New Mexico State University, a Division I school.

Giovanatti said he met Driscoll, then an assistant coach at Baylor University, when the Sault native coached the Team Ontario Under-15 squad in 2008.

One of the players on that team was Toronto's Anthony Bennett, who was taken first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2013 NBA Draft.